Yun Lintian’s eyes snapped open in realization.
"They’re all separate... Because I’ve never truly united them."
He had always assumed that just because these powers coexisted within his Divine Core, they were naturally connected. But now he saw the truth—they orbited the Seed of Time like distant stars, never touching, never interacting.
Taking a deep breath, Yun Lintian closed his eyes again and focused.
"If time is the connection... Then I must use it as the bridge."
Yun Lintian took a deep breath and started his first attempt. He visualized the Seed of Time pulsing, sending golden threads toward the blazing Sun.
The moment the golden light touched the solar flames—
An explosion of energy ripped through his Divine Core. Yun Lintian’s body convulsed as fire erupted from his pores, his skin blistering instantly. The backlash hurled him across the dark space, bones cracking against the unseen floor.
Blood pooled in his mouth. His vision swam.
"Too forceful..." he realized through the pain.
Yun Lintian wiped the blood off his lips and concentrated in healing his internal injuries.
After his injuries healed for an unknown amount of time, Yun Lintian tried again—this time gentler.
He imagined the golden threads as silken strands, barely touching the Sun’s surface.
For a heartbeat, it worked—the fire dimmed, accepting the golden light...
Then the Moon suddenly flared, rejecting the connection.
Ice crystallized along his meridians as conflicting energies collided.
"Ugh!" Yun Lintian screamed as his left side burned and his right side froze, tendons snapping from the violent temperature shift.
"Hah...Hah..." he grasped in pain as his face turned pale. The pain from an external injury was nothing to him but from within was another story. It was a hundred times more painful.
As the pain eased, Yun Lintian began to recover again and prepare for the third attempt.
Two days later, Yun Lintian sat cross-legged, trembling.
This time, he sent threads to both Sun and Moon simultaneously.
The golden light branched—one toward fire, one toward water.
For three breaths, harmony held.
Then the Storm lashed out, wind howling through his core, shredding the delicate connections.
Invisible blades sliced Yun Lintian’s spiritual sea. He collapsed, blood streaming from his nose, ears, even his eyes. His Divine Core felt like it had been put through a meat grinder.
"Ah..." he exhaled in pain. Even if he was prepared, the pain was still unbearable.
Time passed. Yun Lintian had recovered and started his fourth attempt.
Weak but determined, Yun Lintian gathered his will. Instead of connecting two or three elements, he aimed to link them all at once—
The Seed of Time at the center.
Nine golden threads shooting outward.
The resulting detonation blew apart his Divine Core’s landscape.
Yun Lintian’s back arched impossibly as his spine fractured in seven places. His skin split like overripe fruit, muscles unraveling. For ten agonizing seconds, he existed as little more than a screaming, broken puppet—
Then the darkness mercifully swallowed his consciousness.
When Yun Lintian awoke, his body had somehow regenerated—though the phantom pains remained.
He lay gasping, staring into the endless black.
"Why... won’t... it... work?"
No matter how hard Yun Lintian racked his brain up, he couldn’t find a better way to achieve the result. It seemed to be something outside his capability.
"No... If I’m not strong enough now, then I will never be strong enough." he spoke to himself.
Time after time, Yun Lintian had never thought himself as powerful. Even if he had obtained many powers, he always felt that he was still weak, especially in front of a true powerhouse like Nian Shi and an existence on the same level as the Creator like Yin.
However, he now realized that if he didn’t believe that he was strong now, he would never will perhaps through the rest of his life.
"I am strong... I have all the powers in my hand. Just that I don’t know how to mobilize them efficiently." Yun Lintian muttered.
Every time he gained a new power, Yun Lintian didn’t spend much time to master it. It could be said that he was a jack of all trades all this time, who could only master a little bit of each power—not entirely.
"Harmony... Harmony." Yun Lintian muttered to himself like being hypnotized. "Everything in the world can coexist under the right balance..."
"Yes, balance... Right, balance." he repeated the words like a madman.
Not connect from the outside.
Become the connection.
With newfound clarity, he sat up and entered his Divine Core once more—but this time, he didn’t command.
The Sun’s eternal blaze—not just fire, but persistence.
The Moon’s gentle glow—not just water, but adaptability.
The Storm’s fury—not just wind, but transformation.
One by one, he perceived their essences beyond elemental attributes.
Not trying to control.
Simply being the space where they could meet.
And slowly, miraculously—
The Seed of Time pulsed.
A single, resonant note that vibrated through every element.
The Sun flickered in recognition.
The Moon rippled in response.
The moment the Seed of Time pulsed, Yun Lintian felt it—a resonance deep within his soul.
"This... This is the way."
But just as quickly as the connection formed, it shattered.
The golden threads snapped, sending minor shockwaves through his Divine Core. Yun Lintian coughed up blood, but unlike before, the pain was dull—manageable.
He wiped his lips, eyes gleaming with determination.
This time, Yun Lintian didn’t rush. He focused solely on the Sun and Moon—fire and water, persistence and adaptability.
He didn’t force them together.
He simply allowed them to meet.
The golden threads from the Seed of Time wove gently between them, not pulling, not demanding—just bridging.
The Sun’s flames flickered.
The Moon’s glow dimmed slightly.
A hissing sound filled Yun Lintian’s core as steam erupted—but no explosion. No backlash.
They separated again.
"Closer," Yun Lintian thought, exhaling slowly. "But not enough."